Iraq workers strike

HEALTH WORKERS in Iraq have been on strike for higher wages over the past month across several areas of the country. In Kerbala, health workers held a sit-in protest after a strike this month.

The strike, organised by the workers' council of Kerbala hospital, was for a wage rise, reform to the wage system, and to pay those eligible for infection allowance. In Nasiriya, health sector workers held four strikes and a sit-in protest for the same demands put forward by Kerbala's health workers. The strikes have spread to many Iraq provinces, including Baghdad, Umara, Kut and Suleimania in Kurdistan. Infection allowances were discontinued after the 2003 invasion.